Those People You Meet in Mississippi

Screw the book The Five People You Meet In Heaven, what about those people you meet on earth? Is there a book about that? (Maybe that's what I should have written about for my now wasted time as an author.) And my apologizes to Mitch Albom, I have not read that book yet. Eh.

But anyway, of all the things I did in Mississippi, the thing I will take away from it the most would have to be the people. Not physically taking them away, you know what I mean. And it doesn't just mean the residents (or as we, um, politely called them, 'clients'), but also those donning the Red Cross aprons and doing all the volunteer work.

I met people from all different backgrounds who were there for all different reasons. I could drive across the country and have a free nightly stay over at many different people's houses. From Prince Edward Island, Canada to San Diego, California and many places in between. Hell, I finally realized North Dakota existed because I met two nursing students from there who had come down to administer aid. (For anyone interested, they have the same accent as Canadians, how about that, eh?)

I met someone who was in the middle of a planned semi-retirement and this was their second deployment. He had come down and waited for Katrina to hit, then went into New Orleans (well, as far as the police would let him. Even they wouldn't go into certain areas, that's how bad New Orleans was during the first couple of days after the hurricane hit.) Sure, he had a wife and kids back in Bucks County, but that didn't stop him from coming down. And he took a crapload of pictures. He was fun to work with.

And there was another person from New York, she was down there to give the man in her life a time to find himself, to figure out who the hell he was, and what he was doing in her life. Well, that's how she put it. From the story she told, I wouldn't be surprised if she was down there just to get the heck out of dodge and away from him. That's what I would have done.

And there were two guys, my age, who had come down from Michigan. They were because, like me, they heard the coverage and wanted to come down. The one and I had many things in common about our life, too bad he's in Michigan. And not returning my emails (seriously, is that something about me, that I repel people away? I mean, I know I just stop some people from talking to me because I hate them, but what about him, this one I'm clueless about). But they were always together, but fun. They were hard workers, but great to party with at night. I know we gave many a waitresses a hard time in the many times we went out late at night.

And then there were the others, the ones that were not with the Red Cross, but those that came with the North Carolina Baptist Men to work in the kitchen that gave us the food we used to serve the community. They were only there for four days, with two other days spent traveling, so I got to see many of them. Most of them were older and retired (and many of them were women and not men, contrary to what the group is called) and still worked 14 hours a day like it was no problem. A good cause will do that to someone I guess. But there was this one family, a mom and three daughters that came down to help out during their fall break. One was 11, one was 14 and the other was 17. And they came down for fun. It was exciting for them, I take it. But they came down and worked just as hard as anyone else that was there. They got yelled at by the older women working there, but hey, that's what younger people have to deal with. (And an aside, if anyone reading this is from West Jefferson, NC let me know. Or, even better, if you are from there and are named Lindsey, please, come forward. Thanks.)

And then there were the residents. The residents had lost everything they could think of. Said one woman "We lost everything [in our house with gorgoues, unobstructed, views of the beach and water]. There was beautiful marble flooring and granite countertops all on the first floor, that's all gone. This was our home, we have nothing left [except all that money in our bank accounts]. [And sure, there are restaurants and grocery stores open but] we'll take a couple of meals. Thanks." (And yes, this is mean, but they had the means to a) get a new (registered in Alabama) SUV already and b)get a new house in Alabama and only have to be in Gulfport on the weekends. Besides, anyone that has a 4 foot high brick wall around thier house should be made fun of, it's one of my life's rules.)

But in all seriousness, the area was very poor. Many of the jobs were in the casinos. There were no casinos anymore. So there were no jobs. But have no fear, residents, FEMA, Red Cross and the Salvation Army are here to hand out checks. Many church groups have supplies and some of those groups will come out and clear your house for you. Free. So, there are lots of options there for people that go those routes. But, they did just lose everything, so I guess they should get a little something in return. And yes, I am going to hell. But there were residents who were there that were looking out for their neighbors. They wouldn't want the food, but they would go check on the neighbor and make sure they were taken care of. They might have needed something and couldn't get to the door quick enough, so that was nice of them. And I'm sure there were other nice deeds by residents that I am not aware of, just ask my mom. She was in Texas at a couple of shelters. She tells of one man who had just been on a school bus filled with people for 50 hours looking for a place to give them shelter. As soon as they piled out he rolled up his sleeves and came over looking for something to do. She got to see all the selfless acts by residents and evacuees, I got to see the selfless acts by those from across the country.

So, if you want to see what humanity is like, don't read the book, instead volunteer. You'll learn a lot and you'll get to see people you can meet here, on Earth, instead of in heaven. And isn't that more rewarding.


(I'm going to Hell anyway, I won't meet anyone in heaven.)